Life at Veggie Tales
by Music Person
Summary: A look into what goes on in the making of Veggie Tales from the point of view of one of the kids. Annie to be exact. New friends coming, more stories to be told, and a whole lot of fun along the way.
1. New Faces

Annie rushed through the halls, her glasses almost falling off. The smile on her face was almost bigger than her. She ran right past Bob and Larry, who were started by how quickly she came and went.

"Why do we give her such calm roles?" Larry asked his friend, but Annie was too far away to hear Bob's answer.

"They're here! They're finally here!" she yelled, so loudly it got Archibald Asparagus's attention.

"Who's here?" he asked in his British accent.

"The new cast members! They're finally here! I hope there are more kids!" Annie started running again, barely able to contain her excitement. When she got to the front window, Khalil was already there.

"See any kids, Khalil?" Annie asked the caterpillar, hoping for some good news.

"Not yet, but there is a rhubarb with red hair, and two teenage boys: a carrot, and a boy that I'm not really sure what he is, but he's got blonde hair. Oh! I'm also just now seeing a young girl with blonde hair. It looks like they are probably brother and sister. Well I guess you are in luck! There is another kid."

Madame Blueberry came and looked out the window as well.

"I heard about the brother and sister. The older brother's name is Alex, and his sister is Ellie. Pa really wants to do that Pirate movie, and his idea includes them."

"Has anyone told him as long as Larry and Lunt are not wanting to do the movie, it's not going to happen?" Annie asked.

"He doesn't care if it's years, he just wants to do it," Khalil explained, shaking his head.

"Sounds like Pa," Larry said as he hopped up, "Anything to be a captai..IEEE!" Quickly, he hopped away.

"What was that about?" Bob asked.

"No idea," responded Annie.

"Here they come!" exclaimed Madame Blueberry.

The front door opened, and the newest cast members came in. As soon as Annie saw the rhubarb, she looked at Khalil and motioned to where Larry had run off. _"We are going to make sure those two get together," _she thought.

"Welcome to Veggie Tales! I'm Bob the tomato, and Larry was just here a second ago."

The rhubarb gave a small smile, and Annie thought she saw her blush.

"Also, these are Madame Blueberry, Annie, and Khalil," Bob continued.

"Nice to meet you all! I'm Petunia," she responded to the group.

"I'm Nick, and this is my best friend Alex and his little sister Ellie," introduced the carrot.

"Nick and I convinced Alex to audition, and I guess things turned out well," commented Ellie giving her brother a look. Annie could barely contain how excited she was about meeting Ellie. Since Junior and Laura were best friends, and the peas stayed in a pod, Annie was alone a lot of the time.

"Well, it's good you guys know each other! Madame Blueberry, could you please show Petunia around? Khalil, can you show the boys? And Annie, how about you show Ellie around?" Bob asked, making sure everyone got to give a tour. They all agreed to their assignments.

"Great! Now, if you excuse me, I need to find Larry."

"Well, this is where the kids hang out most of the time. It's quieter today than it usually is."

The tour had gone well so far. Ellie had been excited about almost all of the things that Annie enjoyed. She didn't even mind when Annie got out the giant feather from Esther and tickled her with it.

"Where is everyone?" Ellie asked, wanting to get to know more of the kids.

"They're probably getting to know the other new cast members. They arrived this morning, but I also wanted to be sure to meet you four. Along with you guys, there's another kid named Gordon, another teenager named Aaron, and this guy called Blind Lemon, which I don't get. He is not blind!" Annie answered.

"Character maybe?"

"I don't know, but for the next silly song segment, he's going to try to teach Larry to sing the blues."

Ellie thought for a moment and responded, "I don't see that working."

"Me neither, but it will be funny. Larry's pet poodle even gets a part!" Annie commented excitedly.

"You know, you are a lot different than I thought you would be. You always play such quiet characters. I mean, in your first show you sang, but your only two lines were 'Hey,' and 'Pie?'"

"You're close. I actually got my first role in The Toy that Saved Christmas because my Grandpa was already on Veggie Tales, but not everyone remembers that since the only other person that was on set with me was Grandpa George. Madame Blueberry was also fun though. I got to eat pie!"

Ellie laughed and said, "I think we will be great friends!"

"Me too, but I'll warn you now we might get into some mischief," Annie answered with a nudge.

"I was about to warn you the same thing, and I think I know what our first act of mischief should be."

"Get Larry and Petunia together?"

"You saw the blush?"

"Of course!"

"Petunia told me on the way here that she and Larry actually met at the auditions."

"Thanks for telling me." Annie knew right there that she would not feel alone anytime soon.


	2. Egypt and Robin Hood

"Okay, so we need to get started with the new show."

The entire Veggie Tales cast was gathered to prepare for the next show. This would be the first show with the new cast members. The main story would be a fairy tale based on the story of Ruth, set in the kingdom of King George and the Ducky. Everyone was excited about that, but the kids were excited about the short before it. It was going to be based on Miriam being Moses' older sister, and it was still undecided who would be the cast.

"Let's start with Miriam. It will be easier to decide the rest of the cast if we get her figured out," Bob commented. Annie gave Ellie a little smile. It made since to all of the kids that Ellie and Alex got the roles of Miriam and Aaron.

"Hey! Why not Ellie for Miriam? Plus, she has an actual older brother that can be Aaron!" Annie brought up, trying to get her new friend her first role.

All of the other cast members seemed excited about the idea. Alex's face brightened up at the idea of working with his sister for his first character. Petunia loved the idea so much, she stopped gazing at Larry. Larry, however, was still staring at the stunning new rhubarb. Annie looked over at Ellie, and they both knew that they could use that. Annie made a mental note of that.

"Good idea, but do you remember the last time we didn't include a character's name in their first show?"

_Oh yeah, _Annie thought, _Scallion #1 still doesn't have a name. I don't want that to happen to Ellie._

"Okay, so maybe Ellie being Miriam is not such a good idea," Annie admitted, slouching back into her seat.

"What about Laura as Miriam? It would make sense for the rest of the carrot family to be the rest of the show family," Alex suggested.

"That's a great idea! Great first choice!" Larry exclaimed, finally snapping out of his gaze. Petunia noticed and gave a slight giggle.

"Um… Larry?" Bob started, not sure what to say to his best friend.

"Next up, we have two letters from kids being bullied. Any ideas? Remember, try to come up with ideas that include new cast members!"

This was Annie's favorite part of the meetings. There was no telling what would come up for the next show, and there was no telling which idea would be chosen.

"What about Robin Hood? In a way, he was bullied by the giants and the sheriff and everything else he faced!" Junior suggested.

"Not bad, but let's hear some others. Anything else?" Bob asked.

"Now wait a minute! Maybe not have that be the main thing, but I could see us working in something Robin Hood," Nick volunteered, "What about having that be a part of a short?"

"Having even that sounds like a stretch to me," commented Larry, "Could we have more of an explanation?"

"Maybe like a young Robin Hood story: The Reason He Started Doing Good!"

"Not bad Nick, but we could still do better."

"Why have you been so into Robin Hood lately, Junior?" Laura asked.

Junior just shrugged his shoulders, without an answer.

"You've got to admit though, pretending to live in Sherwood Forest was a lot of fun." All of the kids couldn't argue with Junior. Annie remembered how much fun they had all had.

"I've got it! First off, Gordon, do you mind your first role being mean?" Bob got excited quickly when he had an idea.

Gordon thought for a moment. "I don't know."

"Trust me. It's fun to play the bad guy as long as it doesn't change you." Everyone knew Mr. Nezzer was right. He was most known for playing villains, and he was one of the nicest guys any of the cast knew. Anyone who had ever played a villain nodded at Mr. Nezzer's comment.

"Alright, I'll do it!" Gordon said with a smile.

"Then what about doing a show based on Junior's imagination? Think about it: It would start out with the kids playing their Robin Hood game, and Gordon just interrupts their game pretty much to be a bully. Along with that, Junior can have daydreams where he's a brave hero!"

All of the kids got excited about pretty much getting their own short. The last time anything close to this had happened was when they did The Toy that Saved Christmas, and Annie didn't do any scenes with the other kids.

"Okay, so we'll work out more exact details at the next meeting. Anyone have ideas for a main show?"

"I was cleaning up the costume room, and I found a cap! Does that spark any ideas?" Mr. Lunt told everyone.

"It was not a cap! It was a fedora!" Larry almost yelled. Annie knew this meeting was still going to have plenty of ideas.


	3. Planning in the Silliness

"I can't believe I am on a Veggie Tales set!"

This was Ellie's first time on a set, and Annie was glad that her first experience was one of the best days ever: a Silly Song day. Every once in a while, there would be a whole day of shooting one Silly Song after another. This was partly due to people needing to be a part of a silly song, but at the same time, they were needed for the main show. Everyone was there to help quickly change the sets, including the kids. They all wanted to watch the filming of the silly songs, so the kids were in charge of getting all of the props out of the way so adults could move the fake walls, large furniture, and whatever else the kids couldn't lift.

"Okay everyone, first silly song of the day! Let's get this started with Duke and the Great Pie War's Larry sings the Blues!" Bob shouted through his megaphone. Most of the kids were excited to see how this would work out. It was an unspoken rule that no one asked about a silly song idea before it was filmed. No one was quite sure how Larry, the one that can make anyone laugh on their worst day ever, would sing the blues. The only ones who knew what was about to happen were Archie, Larry, Blind Lemon, and for some reason, Oscar.

The set included a small little shack and one of those microphones that looks like it belongs in a fifties diner. As Bob shouted for everyone to take their places, Archie put on the headset he used to announce the silly songs, Larry stepped behind the mic, Oscar grabbed an accordion, and Blind Lemon hopped onto the little shack's front porch, where a harmonica and a guitar were waiting for him.

"I don't get why he's called Blind Lemon! He can see better than almost any of us!" Annie said, maybe a little too loudly. As if on cue, Jimmy tripped over the cord of a computer needed in the next silly song to be filmed.

"Can someone put my poodle behind the shack?" Larry asked realizing his dog was smelling the sausage on the refreshment table. Loving any reason to hold such a soft animal, Ellie grabbed the dog, gave him a small piece of sausage, and set him back down behind the shack, which looked more like the front of a house that would actually be lived in. When she got back to Annie, she asked why that was.

"We reuse things like that all the time! The back of the shack was used in Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed as just a house," Annie explained to Ellie. The whole room got quiet as Bob started the camera rolling. Archie did his usual intro, and Blind Lemon started playing guitar. The song surprisingly worked well. It started out with Larry singing about how happy he was for getting ice cream. After a few lines, Blind Lemon started coaching him on how to sing the blues, and Larry just can't be sad enough to sing the blues. Everything was going as Larry and Blind Lemon had planned it. At one point, Larry's poodle just showed up out of nowhere, so Larry turned it into a joke about how petting poodles makes him happy. All of the kids shared a look that said they all wished they could laugh in agreement. Everyone thought the song was over when Blind Lemon left the stage. As everyone was getting ready to quickly change the set, Oscar shows up on stage. He asks Larry if he would like to polka, and they go into a happy tune, including the poodle.

After Bob yells cut and that the silly song went perfectly, Oscar started up his accordion again, and Larry dragged the kids on stage to dance with them. Since all the kids were having such a great time, Petunia thought she would get the microphone off stage. She is almost to it, when Larry pulled her away and started dancing with her. Everyone just watched for a moment with sweet smiles on their face. Then Archie gave a small bow for his wife, Lovey, and they started dancing. All the kids got into a circle and started skipping around and around. Khalil was on a shelf full of cords and did his own little jig. One pair after another, soon all but two were dancing. Annie was certain for a moment that Bob was going to put a stop to the dancing, when he noticed Madame Blueberry was the only other person not dancing. His cheeks became even redder than usual as he went over to Madame Blueberry.

"As long as everyone else is dancing, would you like to dance?" Annie could barely believe what she had just witnessed. She thought back to years ago, when Veggie Tales was doing the show Madame Blueberry. When the house stopped from almost falling, Bob and Madame Blueberry laughed a little as it said to in the script. The French peas said that it was not the laugh they were expecting, but they liked what happened better. Annie had had a perfect view of the scene through the trees, and she thought since then there was more to that laugh. Looking at the two now, Annie finally figured it out.

She looked over at Khalil, and noticed he had stopped doing his dance of one. They looked at each other, and Annie motioned to where Madame Blueberry and Bob were dancing together. Khalil nodded in understanding. As soon as Larry and Petunia were together, they already had their next mission. The way things are going, they wouldn't have much work to do.

Annie noticed out of the corner of her eye that Ellie had noticed as well. Feeling that someone was watching her, Ellie looked Annie's way. Ellie motioned toward the refreshment table. The two broke from the circle, and went to the table like they were taking advantage of Jimmy and Jerry not hovering over the brownies.

"Can Bob sing?" Ellie asked her friend.

"More than he lets on."

"Do others know of his skill?"

"The ones who were here from the beginning do. Why?" With every question, Annie was getting more and more curious.

"I have a plan, but we need to not let people know that they are helping us."

"Who do we need help from?"

"The Pirates who Don't do Anything, and the French peas."

Khalil came over and was caught up on what had been discussed. He and Annie listened as Ellie explained the rest of the plan.

When Ellie had finished her plan, Annie was the first to respond with, "To quote a previous episode: I like it!"

"It's sneaky," Khalil continued, followed by Annie again, back to Khalil, and finished by Ellie.

"And it just"

"Might"

"Work!"

As Oscar finished the polka, everyone got the set ready for the next silly song about the pizza delivery guy not showing up. With only one song done, Annie felt already as if this was a great work day.


	4. Setting the Plan in Motion

"And you want me to do what exactly?"

Annie and Ellie were talking to Pa Grape about their plan, doing their best not to let Pa know what exactly they had in mind.

"We need you to get with Mr. Lunt and take over a show as the Pirates who Don't do Anything," Annie explained, already trying to think of a true answer to his next question.

"Why?" he asked. Luckily for Annie, Ellie was ready with an answer.

"Alex and I probably won't get a role until we do the Pirate movie, and Mr. Lunt and Larry will be easier to convince if we ask them when they're dressed up as pirates," Ellie told him. Pa looked at the girls in careful consideration. Annie did her best not to look like this was as huge a question as it was. The seconds seemed like hours. If Pa wouldn't do this, the rest of the plan would not work.

After a while, Pa finally said, "You know, those costumes are a little too far back in the costume room for my taste. Alright, I'll do it!"

Trying their best to act like they were excited about Ellie getting a role more than the rest of their plan was intact, the girls did a little happy dance. _One group down, one to go!_ Annie thought to herself, as the rest of the plan was becoming more possible in her head.

"Why does everyone think I'm a carrot? I'm a Pepper!"

"Sorry Nick! Khalil was the first person to see you, and he said that you were a carrot," responded Philippe, as Annie and Ellie entered the cast lounge, where the French Peas had their lunch every day. As Nick left, Jean-Claude noticed the girls.

"Annie! Ellie! What brings you here?" Where Ellie had a closer connection with Pa, due to him hiring her for the movie, Annie had the peas because even though she was in The Toy that Saved Christmas first, Annie was hired for Madame Blueberry, the peas story.

"We're going to let you in on a little secret so you can be ready." Annie knew she had to word this just right.

"We're listening," Philippe answered, getting curious as he ate some bread.

"The Pirates who Don't do Anything, minus Larry, will take over the next show, and we want you to be ready with a Silly Song."

"Doesn't Larry usually come up with the Silly Songs, even if someone else is performing?" Jean-Claude had just hit a spot the girls had not yet thought of.

"Also, all the Silly Songs are performed in advance," Philippe added.

"Sometimes, and usually, but don't you remember how the Cheeseburger song was performed on the set of Madame Blueberry because no one except maybe Mr. Lunt knew that Archibald would interrupt with the notice about Silly Songs with Larry?" Annie remembered, trying to make a connection.

"Also, by the time we get to the Silly Song, Larry will be dressed up as a Pirate as well, and Larry won't do two Silly Songs about the same topic, so we are safe from any Pirate Silly Songs," Ellie brought up, keeping the ball rolling.

"If you just walk on set with a Silly Song, they're going to use it." As Annie finished their explanation, she tried to think of what the next question would be.

The French Peas thought for a moment, and at the same time simply said, "Okay." The answer was so quick and sudden, Annie wasn't sure if she heard them right, but Ellie didn't miss a beat.

"That's great!"

"We actually have a song ready that we were wondering how to get it heard." Jean-Claude looked at Philippe and knew exactly what song he was talking about.

"It's not in French, is it?" Annie made sure.

"No need to worry," Jean-Claude answered, "The song is not even for us to sing."

Annie and Ellie looked at each other. They were a little nervous about that, but they didn't have anything better. Hopefully the plan would still work out.


	5. London, Hawaii, and Pirates

"Annie, why do we play the theme song at the start of every filming? It doesn't change."

"It's so we get a better idea of how the show will all flow together, Ellie. That's also why we do the show all in order and in one day. I don't get why we do it that way, but it helps us."

The new show was about to start. The plan couldn't be continued for a few shows, but after an amount of time Annie lost track of, it was time. The Pirates went ahead and told Larry so he could have his eye-patch ready and Pa could read the letter. Pa had a story ready to go, in which Annie had a role, so with the hidden costumes, there was a simple brown dress in Annie's size. Ellie still hadn't had a major role, so she was just going to help with costumes and props. The girls still not knowing how, the French Peas told Pa to take the story back to the counter-top. Annie couldn't think of a single way this could go badly.

The recording of Bob convincing Larry to play the tuba came on, and everyone got in position. Annie was still calm when the theme song ended.

As Bob was about to read the letter, Pa and Mr. Lunt charged onto the stage. All of the Pirates, including Larry, just pretended to be bored. Larry put on his eye-patch, and Bob let them run the show with him supervising. The letter was asking about trusting God. The Pirates kept up a joke about them not knowing how to do anything with the show. Pa started a story about George Mueller, a man who trusted God for everything. Before Bob could end it, everyone needed, including Pa, was in costume with the set ready to be Bristol, England.

Pa played his great-grandfather, who was a reporter with false information about an orphanage run by George Mueller. He asked George, played by Archibald if he was training extraterrestrial porpoises for less than ideal purposes. "I'm considered among my peers to be a genius with a headline." As "George" explained the orphanage, Ellie could tell on Bob's face that he knew the story would be too short. She followed Bob as he went to look for the script for another story. Annie had noticed Bob left, and knew the story would be short as well, so she stalled with improvised lines about the reporter's newspaper.

"Why are you following me Ellie?" Bob asked so quickly Ellie didn't know how to answer.

"I wanted to help you."

"Well, I'm just going to look for a set of unused scripts. Can you help me find it?" Ellie nodded and started looking for a box Bob told her about.

The George Mueller story was going well. Bob and Ellie came back just in time to have Bob sit down after handing out scripts and getting costumes ready. Larry was in his Pirate costume, and a Silly Song was needed. Ellie had just asked Madame Blueberry to take something to Bob, when she realized what was wrong with the peas saying "the song is not for us to sing." They were counting on some sort of overly ridiculous love song, like _His Cheeseburger._ There was no telling what the peas were about to ask Bob to sing.

Bob was reading his newspaper, when he was handed lyrics and put on a Hawaiian set. Madame Blueberry stopped, and gave a slight giggle. Partly not wanting to see how it would go badly, partly wanting things to start going better, Ellie pretty much dragged Larry to put on a Drum Major uniform and Pa to put on an angel costume. Annie had noticed the Silly Song being filmed to see Bob enjoying himself and Madame Blueberry beaming in admiration. Before Annie could even sigh, the lyric sheet got caught in a fan and was ripped to bits. The peas taped all the pieces together, but in nowhere near the right order. Bob got stressed out and tried to get the peas to stop the song, but they just figured the song would be even funnier. When Larry came out of his dressing room in costume, Bob tried to get him to help, but it was no use. Eventually Bob just gave up and the peas made up lyrics on the spot.

After that, filming started on Gideon: Tuba Warrior. Luckily, Ellie had also found huge posters with the script so no one worried about lines. If a poster was not in an actor's sight, they did amazing coming up with their own lines. The rest of the show went smoothly. Madame Blueberry never left Bob's side until Bob revealed that he found the Gideon story. Larry congratulated Bob on the Silly Song, and after wrapping up the lesson, Pa did a very daring thing.

"Now that we've got one story under our belts…" Pa walked offstage to get an easel with a poster.

"Do you really think he's going to ask on camera?" Ellie asked Annie. She didn't have a chance to respond before Pa was back.

"You want to make a movie?" Bob asked in disbelief. Larry and Mr. Lunt were still resistant, but everyone knew, there was no retaping or editing a counter-top scene. (That was tradition ever since King George and the Ducky.) Word would get out, so a Pirate movie was going to be made. There was one person unfazed as Bob and the Pirates tried to wrap up the show: Pa. After the cameras stopped, Alex finally broke the silence.

"Wait, that means…" Everyone was looking at Alex as a look of pure excitement spread across his face. "Ellie and I are finally going to be in a show!"


	6. After the Filming

In the main conference room, all of the official adults on Veggie Tales gathered to discuss the events of the first day of filming Gideon. This was one of the few times no kids were allowed.

"What were you thinking?! Taking over a show on suggesting in a countertop scene we do a movie! Why would you do that?" It was rare for Bob to be this angry about anything.

"Aw, come on Bob. A movie wouldn't be so bad. Besides, we both know Ellie and Alex aren't going to get roles anytime soon without it. This is why I let them pass the audition." Pa always did know how to be the voice of reason.

Petunia seemed thoughtful, and then asked, "Why can't we re-film a countertop scene?" Everyone tried to remember, but hardly anyone could. Eventually, a voice that was rarely heard anymore spoke up.

"In King George and the Ducky, Jimmy and Jerry's story was not the best story. People tried to get us to re-film the countertop scene, but nothing seemed as good as what came naturally. After that, we decided the countertop scenes would never be re-filmed. The rest of the show we could spend the whole day re-filming one scene, but no one touched the countertop scenes." Known to many as George, it was Annie's grandfather who spoke up. The new cast members started thinking back to earlier countertop scenes, while some of the older ones suddenly started remembering. No one doubted it, especially Jimmy and Jerry. Everyone was quiet for a while. No one knew what to say.

"It did feel good to be back in my Pirate costume," stated Mr. Lunt, breaking the silence.

After a moment, Archibald also commented. "The George Mueller story was superb, and Pa's way of introducing it definitely should not be changed."

Slowly, others kept bringing up reasons they shouldn't change the countertop scene.

"Even though it was more like a first read-through, the story of Gideon went great," someone said.

"I've always wanted to be a part of a Pirate movie." No one could tell if that was Charlie Pincher or Scooter.

"The silly song was awesome." There was no doubting that was Larry. After that, everyone got excited about how much fun the silly song was. Almost everyone was talking about it, and not a single comment was bad. Hardly anyone noticed Bob attempting to sink back into his chair.

"You know, there's no reason we have for not re-filming a silly song," Bob tried to get people to change that. Although everyone heard it, no one spoke. Finally, Jean-Claude spoke.

"What is wrong with our silly song?"

"It's not the silly song, that was great," Bob started. "I just think I shouldn't sing it."

"Well, where did that come from?" asked Charlie. "You practically sang the whole movie in The Star of Christmas!"

"And you loved singing in Where's God when I'm Scared? and Are You my Neighbor?," commented Dad Asparagus. "Those have been Junior's favorites so far because he got to hear you sing." Everyone who came to Veggie Tales before The Star of Christmas remembered some other time Bob sang and it was great. Eventually, Bob gave in.

"We can use the footage of me doing Lance the Turtle, but if it's true about our best things being natural, I should never have to sing it again." A cheer rose through the whole group.

"So, I never heard a for sure answer: Can we do a Pirate movie?" Pa asked.

Everyone else liked it, but Bob was top tomato so they waited for his answer. To Pa, the seconds felt like hours. He had wanted to do this for so long. At this moment, that dream would either be reality, or fail.

"As long as I don't sing, we'll do it!" The whole group went into a roar of celebration, including two high-pitched voices from a nearby air vent. Archibald was one of a small group who heard them. Slowly and somewhat loudly he started to speak.

"Well, I guess we better go tell the children," he said motioning to the vent above his head. Everyone understood and started to play along.

"Oh yeah, Ellie was so hopeful, I'm guessing she's been doing nothing but praying in her dressing room." Ellie looked surprised at Mr. Lunt's words.

"Annie's probably been doing the same thing, being Ellie's best friend," Philippe added. Suddenly from the air vent there came a rumble of two girls trying to get back to their dressing rooms. All of the adults burst out in laughter. They all knew that with those two around, hardly anything could remain an "adults only" secret.


	7. Auditions: Part 1

The heat was becoming unbearable for the tired men. The sound of clanging metal rang in the air. Suddenly, two men grabbed Alex and kept him from regaining a dropped sword. Suddenly, a loud, proud voice with a British accent called out, "Drop your weapons or say good-bye to your prince."

"Cut!" Bob shouted out. "I'm sorry Archibald; you just aren't mean enough to be Robert."

"I was scared," Junior called out. All of the kids agreed, although they were scared because they had never seen Archibald that way. It was the day of auditions for The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, and there were so many characters that they could not find an actor for. The Pirates would obviously be Pa Grape, Mr. Lunt, and Larry, and Alex and Ellie were going to be the prince and princess (Alexander and Eloise). So far, they had tried to audition the King and a pirate called One-eyed Louie, but no one had fit the parts.

"Eh, when I was writing the script, I was kind of thinking you would be Eloise's butler, Willory." Bob was the director, but since it was Pa's idea, he had a lot of choice.

"A butler?" Archibald asked. "Why were you thinking me?"

"It just adds something when you do a very formal character." Pa commented.

"Besides, you're famous for being the world's greatest Super-Hero butler!" added Larry. Everyone agreed to that, and Archibald agreed to do the role.

"Okay, so that means Jolly Joe will be Charlie Pincher, Mr. Hibbing will be Mr. Nezzer, Scooter will be the Pirate host at the Inn, and Archibald will be Willory." Larry announced the new cast decisions after every audition, but none of the decided cast was characters they had auditioned. All four had auditioned for other characters. Slowly, the door opened, and the janitor, who somehow had arms though being a vegetable, came in.

"Oh, I'm sorry to disturb. Just came in to pick up the trash." The janitor had a slightly growling voice that scared Annie the first time she heard it, but she had grown used to it. This was the first time for him to be as tall as he was, though and have arms and legs.

"It's okay Rob. We were just about done. Had some trouble finding some actors, so I was going to post asking for outside actors." Bob had not yet looked at Rob, but as he turned around, he was as surprised as everyone else. "Uh, Rob, How do you have arms?"

"Eh, I dabble here and there in the mechanical arts." Knowing all of the special effects he did, everyone knew it was more than dabbling. "Having arms makes it easier to do my job."

"Well, I better get the word out that we need actors." As Bob was headed to the door, the extras and Alex started the scene again.

"Stand firm men, for the king! And Monteria!" Alex shouted as he slid down a set banister. When the time came for the line, there was a quiet, yet perfect deliverance of the line.

"Drop your weapons, or say good-bye to your prince." No one could tell who it was, so for the first time that day, Alex and the extras continued the scene.

"Robert! I should have known you were behind this cowardly attack." As Alex spoke, everyone was hoping the mysterious voice would be more obvious. Though the voice didn't do the actions, everyone knew who it was as he stood back up from putting a trash can back in its place.

"Hello, nephew," Rob's voice started being more obvious as he walked over to where extras had Alex secure. "Sorry I've missed the family reunions, but it's been difficult, being banished and all." Though she knew it was all acting, Ellie felt terrified for her brother. Alex was unfazed as he continued boldly.

"Your punishment was well earned." Bob had heard what was going on and reentered the audition room.

"That depends on your point of view, but since your daddy has left you alone and unprotected, I thought we could get reacquainted."

"Perfect!" Pa shouted. The look on everyone's face agreed. "Have you been memorizing the script? Because that was great!"

"Oh, I helped Alex learn his lines so I guess I just picked it up."

Bob had gathered with the rest of the cast. "Well, could you do that part? That was fantastic!" Everyone murmured in agreement.

"I will if you need me to." A cheer rose through the crowd. No one noticed the door open until another voice came from that way.

"Alex? Ellie?" the voice called.

"Hey Dad," Alex responded. Alex and Ellie's father looked kind, yet powerful. His face grew into a huge smile.

"So, this is where you audition for roles," he looked around the room barely large enough to hold everyone. "Is the size supposed to give you a feeling of being under pressure?" Everyone laughed at his joke. Bob looked as if he had an idea, but wasn't sure how to ask it. Alex and Ellie's father noticed this and asked what was wrong.

"Well, in the movie we are working on, we need someone to play the king, and I was wondering if you might be interested."

"Hmm… Alex and Ellie are playing the prince and princess, right?" Everyone confirmed what he thought. "I'll give it a try if I can have a script to read from for now." Alex gave him his script and they set up for the main scene with the king.

"Your line first, uh." Bob said as he realized he didn't know the man's name.

"John," said the man. Pa, Lunt, and Larry's characters had just rescued the prince and princess and were being awarded. Reading the script, John started as the king. "For amazing tenacity, unwillingness to give up." As he said his line, Ellie put a medal around Lunt's neck (which for now was a piece of twine). As Ellie placed a medal around Larry's neck (which was currently an old blue hair ribbon Laura wore in Jonah), John continued, "For extraordinary bravery in the face of grave danger." Pa received a medal next (which was a piece of string with a plastic bean on it considered for Lord of the Beans), and John commended him on leadership. The rest of the scene went perfectly, and you would have thought John had been preparing to say those things his whole life. Everyone was in awe. The scene ended as John proclaimed, "Monteria, I give you, Three Heroes!" Everyone in the room cheered.

"Well, I guess the only main role in the Pirate world left is One-Eyed Louie," Larry commented.

Bob regained control and announced, "Tomorrow, we have auditions for the modern day parts of the story and not yet filled roles which include: Ellen, Bernadette, Blind Man, Mr. Lewis/Sir Fredrick, One-Eyed Louie, and… Jolly Joe's waitress? How did we not audition anyone for that today?"

"We wanted to audition at the same time," explained Petunia. "Really, since Lunt's girlfriend is most likely to play Ellen since she is Lunt's character's girlfriend and Ma Grape is going to be Pa's character's wife, the question is really which role of either the waitress or Bernadette is going to me, and which is going to Madame Blue, or are we going to look for outside actresses?"

"More like is Madame Blue going to be a waitress or are we getting an outside actress," Annie whispered to Ellie. Ellie tried her hardest not to giggle. Bernadette was Larry's character's girlfriend, so Petunia was going to get that role, but no one would admit that out loud in front of Petunia or Larry.

"Well, good job today everyone. See you tomorrow!" Bob shouted as he left to go home. The girls said their good-byes, wondering where the other roles would come from the next day.


	8. Auditions: Part 2

Annie rushed down the hall, mad at herself for oversleeping on the second day of auditions for the new movie. As she burst through the door, she noticed that there was half of a booth set up on stage with Petunia and a girl who was probably Mr. Lunt's girlfriend sitting behind it. _Drat! Bernadette was the last role they were going to fill._ Annie mentally slapped herself as Ellie came over.

"Don't worry Annie; today was SO BORING compared to yesterday. Madame Blue was great for the waitress, we're getting an outside actor for One-eyed Louie, nothing happened that we didn't expect." Even though it was comforting to know that Annie didn't miss any excitement, Annie was kind of disappointed there was no excitement.

Bob went up onto the stage and spoke into the microphone. "Okay everyone, Madame Blueberry will be playing the waitress, Petunia will play Bernadette, Jimmy will play Mr. Lewis/ Sir Fredrick, Ellen will play Ellen, and we are getting outside actors for the blind man and One-eyed Louie." After Bob made his announcement, everyone got ready to leave.

"Is it weird that my first character's name is the same as my actual name?" Ellen asked Petunia

"Not really, it was the same for me in Duke and the Great Pie War."

Annie laughed a little as she thought about how many of the 'first time, same name' situations throughout the years were planned and how many were coincidence. Without realizing it, she was slowly walking over to Larry and Jimmy. In fact, she didn't realize she was anywhere near them until she heard Larry say, "I don't know Jimmy. I mean, Petunia's played my love interest before, but it's never been official girlfriend."

"What's the difference? There was more romantic stuff in Minnesota Cuke. This is nothing!" Jimmy was trying to keep his voice down.

"I know, but…"

"Look, if you want to see just how un-awkward you should feel, think about this: if your character was Sedgwick instead of Elliot, your whole purpose for getting back home would be to see her." Annie thought about this. The whole point of Mr. Lunt being Sedgwick, the lazy pirate who finds motivation in trying to see his girlfriend, was that Mr. Lunt would admit to having a girlfriend. Larry thought about this as well.

"I guess you're right, except for one thing," Annie tried her hardest to listen without looking like she was listening by going through all of the costumes. "I would, kind of, maybe want Petunia to be my actual girlfriend." Annie froze right there. Jimmy was just as speechless.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Annie was frozen in shock. Larry the Cucumber had more than a crush on Petunia Rhubarb. He wanted her to be his girlfriend.

"Oh, and Annie? Stop catching those dust particles coming off of those old costumes in your mouth and actually talk to us."

_Darn! I really need to work on not looking like I'm listening._ Annie turned around and joined Larry and Jimmy, both staring at her with knowing smiles. "It's just, all of the shows you did together, and you are just now _maybe_ wanting to ask her out?"

"Well…" Jimmy looked interested, but Annie was pretty sure what was coming next. "It may not be 'just now maybe.'"

"Then, what is it?" Jimmy asked as Annie patiently waited for her thoughts to be proven right.

"More like, since I first saw her definitely."

Jimmy was speechless again, but Annie was riled up with excitement. "Okay, you need to get a perfect first date. I mean, this is Petunia. Now, what would be good? A fancy dinner isn't really Petunia's style, but with a picnic there's all sorts of little bugs you're afraid of…"

"Not fond of"

"…how about a movie? But neither of you like really sappy love movies so what about a kid's show but since it's still a date, one with a love interest."

"Annie!" Annie paused her excited ramblings to listen to Larry. "It's nice that you think Petunia and I are such a great pair, but I don't know how to ask her."

Jimmy thought for a moment, "Well, how about you just go up to her and ask. No big spectacle, maybe not even ask her to do date stuff with you the first time. Maybe just ask if she'd like to join you for some ice cream."

Larry just rolled his eyes, "Even that simple I still don't know how."

Annie looked at him with her innocent little girl eyes. "You're scared."

Larry replied, "No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Well, maybe a little." Even though this was the response Annie was poking for, she was still surprised. Larry? Scared? We're talking about a guy that even though he never officially sang it was going to sing a song about being stuck in a bear trap. Jimmy and Annie looked at each other until a devious smile was on Jimmy.

"Should we make him watch Esther? Or would us getting the tickle feather out bring back enough memories?" Larry's eyes widened at this suggestion.

"Okay! Okay, I'll ask her, but wait for it to be a good time." Annie smiled. She and Ellie would probably push it a little sooner somehow. She may have missed watching the auditions, but she was glad she didn't miss this.

**A/N: Okay, I know I named this chapter "Auditions (Part 2)", but I didn't know what else could happen, so this is after the audition. Also, I know I've gotten some reviews with ideas, and they are appreciated. Just so you know, I'm honestly going to stay with the pirate movie for a while (if the first part seemed rush, it's because I was trying to get to this part). Also, I had a review that I'm guessing was someone's idea for a made-up show. I may do other fanfictions about shows that I make up for Veggie Tales to do, but all shows in this one I want to actually be shows Veggie Tales has made. Music Person, over and out!**


	9. Everybody's Got a Water Buffalo

"Are you ready Ellie?"

"You bet Annie!"

"Commence Operation: Perfect Moment."

The two girls stepped out from behind the pine trees, acting as if there was nothing special going on at all. Even though The Pirates who Don't do Anything was officially in production, regular shows were still being made. Today, the cast was on the set of Moe and the Big Exit, a western take on the story of Moses and the Exodus. As Annie went to the snack table, she thought of the facts that were each a little piece in this plan.

_Fact 1: Larry is playing Moe, the hero who disguises himself as the Lone Stranger. Fact 2: Petunia is playing his wife, Sally. Fact 3: Today, they were filming the scene where Moe and Sally meet for the first time (very romantic). Fact 4: Annie's signal to Ellie to officially start the plan is to eat one of the brownies that Junior's mom brought. Fact 5: It is going to be extremely difficult to not give the signal too early due to those brownies being amazing._

Annie looked over at Ellie. The plan was that while they were getting set up, Ellie would bring over Zippy, the water buffalo. Now, Zippy was a little hard to get to stop, so he would bump into Petunia and send her down the well that in the actual show Larry would fall down. After Petunia fell, Larry would pull her up, creating the perfect moment to ask her out. What could go wrong?

Petunia stood in place next to the well, unaware of what would happen. She smiled at everyone, but it seemed like she was hiding something. Annie took a brownie from the table and ate it, making sure Ellie saw. She did see, and brought Zippy over to Petunia, who would bring Zippy in at the beginning of the scene.

"Well Annie, I'm kind of glad that I didn't ask Petunia out earlier." Annie turned around and saw Larry dressed as Moe. "I was just talking to Petunia, and I found out that after Duke and the Great Pie War, her old boyfriend thought we actually were dating so he broke up with Petunia. Her heart's pretty shattered, so I think there won't be a good time anytime soon."

"WHAT!?" Annie almost choked on the brownie. If Larry wasn't going to ask Petunia out soon, there was no need for the plan. She had to get to Ellie in time to tell her to stop the plan. She hurried away from Larry, knowing she would have to admit that there was a plan to explain later. As she rushed to Ellie, Annie realized how many things could go wrong with their plan. What if Petunia didn't fall in the well, but got trampled? What if Ellie couldn't move Zippy at all? What if she couldn't stop Zippy? There were so many things that could mess everything up.

Annie went as quickly as she could to Ellie without raising suspicion. As she approached, she saw Ellie start to walk Zippy. Annie rushed to where Ellie was walking alongside Zippy on his leash. She quickly whispered to Ellie, "Abort Mission." Ellie turned around and saw the panic in Annie's eyes. She nodded, knowing that Annie would explain later.

They continued walking over to Petunia because she actually did need Zippy. About the time most people started to pull on Zippy's leash to get him to stop, Ellie pulled on the leash. Nothing happened. She pulled as hard as she could but there was no change in Zippy's speed. Annie saw what was going on and immediately reached for the leash to help her friend. Even combined, the two girls could not stop the buffalo. Knowing they didn't really have a choice, they yelled to get Petunia's attention so she could move. When Petunia saw the girls coming with Zippy (or by this point Zippy coming with the girls), she froze a little. As soon as she did, though, Larry came zipping in front of Zippy. He pushed her out of the way unharmed and continued to Zippy's side to help Annie and Ellie stop the water buffalo. With Larry, they could stop Zippy just before he ran into the well.

As everyone came over to see what happened, Larry went back to check on Petunia. After the adults did their frantic check on Annie and Ellie, Annie walked to go get another brownie. As she did, she passed by Larry and Petunia. Petunia was blushing as she said sweetly, "Thank you for saving me."

Now Larry was blushing a little. "Ah, it was nothing. I guess I've been Larry-boy too many times to not help someone in need."

Annie continued on to the snack table and thought to herself, _Hmm that went better than planned._


	10. Prep

Annie stared at the giant door that led to Bob's office. It seemed smaller than when Annie had first talked to him after her audition for the show. It still seemed big though. Maybe it was just what Annie was about to ask for. She slowly opened the door and walked into Bob's office. "Um, Bob?"

Bob looked up from whatever he was looking at. He looked at Annie and smiled. "Annie! What can I help you with?"

Annie looked at the walls. There was a poster for every show they had done. Underneath was one of everything they had sold to go with each show. Annie was in awe at the sight of everything. "How hard would it be to put up an old set for something?"

Bob thought for a moment. "It would depend on how many people we got to help and which set it was."

Annie's face brightened. "I've been talking to people, and the only person that we don't have willing to help is the person this is supposed to surprise."

Bob looked interested. "Then it doesn't really matter which set it is if you have that many people."

Annie got excited. This was going to be the best surprise for Ellie ever!

"Wow! This was really fast!" Nick looked at all that they had done, in the past few hours.

Annie came up behind Nick, admiring everyone's work. "Well it helps that there are only two people that are in the cast that didn't help. Speaking of which, it's time for you to call Alex and tell him to bring Ellie."

Ellie watched her older brother get off of the phone with his best friend. She was surprised at how quick of a call it was. Usually those two would talk for at least an hour.

Alex looked at his sister. "Something came up at the studio. We need to head up there right now."

_A/N: Okay, this is a short chapter, but Writer's Block stinks! I thought about combining this one with the next chapter, but I felt like I owed you guys an update. (Plus I want you guys to wonder what exactly is going on.) Sorry for the slowness and expect an update soon!_


	11. Birthday Party

"Shh! They're coming."

Everyone hid all around the set. Annie waited excitedly for her best friend to show up. Everyone heard Ellie and Alex's footsteps.

Alex coming up with an excuse, quickly said, "Wow it's dark in here! I'll go turn on the lights." Annie got ready to surprise Ellie. As soon as the lights came up, everyone jumped out.

"Happy Birthday, Ellie!"

Ellie looked around at the set. For her birthday party, everyone had set up the set for The Wizard of Ha's. That was Ellie's favorite show ever! She was so excited that she had time between filming for The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything to watch them do The Wizard of Ha's. Sadly, Ellie did have to miss the chance all the kids got to play. To make it up, Annie thought of setting the set up for Ellie's birthday.

Ellie searched for Annie in the crowd. When she did, Annie just shrugged. Ellie ran over to her friend. "How did you manage to do all this?"

Annie laughed. "You realize that there are only two people that didn't help put this up that are on the show: you and Alex. You because it was for you, and Alex because he was keeping you away."

Archibald, who had agreed to be the Wizard again for the party, came out with his costume on. "Welcome boys and girls to the land of Ha's: Funnest Place on Earth!" With that, all of the kids ran though the gateway to go play. The adults had volunteered to run the different places in shifts. Two of the people on break were Bob and Madame Blueberry.

Madame Blueberry watched as Bob wandered around, not having anywhere to go. Eventually, she went over to him. "Bob?"

Bob turned around and saw the blueberry came over to him. "Yes, Madame."

Madame Blue had a brief panic when she realized she had no reason to talk to Bob. Quickly, she thought of something. "I just wanted to say it was really sweet of you to let Annie do this for her friend."

Bob's cheeks got a little redder. "It was nothing really. The only thing I did different than anyone else was say 'yes'."

Madame Blue laughed a little. She looked at Bob. She felt like she wanted to say more, but she didn't know what else to say. Bob was looking back at her, as if he wanted to say something as well. Out of nowhere, Junior, Annie, Ellie, and Gordon ran by, bumping into Bob. By doing so, Bob bumped into Madame Blueberry. After a lot of apologizing, they both finally stood up and returned to their awkward silence. Eventually Bob broke that silence. With a small bow, he asked, "Would you care for a ride on the Ferris wheel with me?" After a quick and shy yes, they went to wait for an open seat.

Behind the ring toss game, four kids watched. Annie got a huge smile on her face. "Great job, guys! They're on the Ferris wheel together." The other three gave silent cheers.

Junior whispered, "Okay, so do we want to do next?"

Ellie looked at the clock. "It's about time for the adults to change shifts. Anyone think we should try Larry and Petunia?"

Everyone got excited about this new idea. Gordon looked at a map he had of where all of the adults were taking shifts. "We need to figure out as part of our plan how to get them together. Larry is on one side, and Petunia is all the way on the other."

Everyone came up with some idea, but Ellie didn't hear any of them because a plan was forming in her own mind. She saw her brother, and got a brilliant idea. "Hey guys, I have a plan. I'll be right back." She knew everyone would be confused about her saying that she had a plan and leaving, but she needed Alex. She called, and Alex came over to her.

"Well, what else does my little sister want on her birthday?" Alex asked in a teasing, older brother tone.

"I need your help with a plan."

Alex's smile dropped. "Oh, no. The last time we used one of your plans, I ended up cutting parts of my hair off to get the gum out."

Ellie heaved a heavy sigh. "This is not like that plan. That plan was way too confusing and used too many different things. This plan, I just need you because you are a male teenager that I can get to do it."

"And what makes you think I will do it?"

Ellie put on her most innocent little sister face. "Because it's my birthday and you would do anything to make me happy."

Alex stared into her eyes. He finally turned away and gave up. "Fine! What do you need me to do?"

Ellie dragged him over to where everyone was waiting.

/\

"Hey Larry!" Larry turned toward Alex's voice. "I need your advice on something."

Larry just kind of shrugged. "Okay, although I can't say it will be good advice."

Alex somewhat laughed, hoping his acting skills would fool Larry. "You're the best guy I can ask. There's this girl at school that I really like. I think she likes me too, but I'm not sure. How do I know?"

Larry seemed to think deeply about this question as he absent-mindly went with Alex across the amusement park. "I don't know Alex. I honestly never had that much luck with girls myself. My best advice would be to get a girl's opinion."

The timing was perfect, and Alex and Ellie barely kept out of the way of Larry and Petunia bumping into each other. Alex and Ellie looked at each other, winked, and went back to their friends.

There was a few seconds of silence, and then Larry spoke up. "Um, Alex had a question for me that my best answer was that he should ask a girl. Would you mind answering it?"

Petunia smiled. "Sure, I'd be happy to!"

Alex used his best acting skills to pretend that this was a much bigger question to him than it actually was. He took a deep breath. "Well, there's this girl at school that I like, but I'm not sure if she likes me. How can I tell?"

Petunia thought for a second, then answered with a question. "Have you heard the One Direction song "What makes you Beautiful"?"

Alex laughed a little. "Though the wall that connects mine and Ellie's rooms." Ellie gave him a small glare.

Petunia laughed. "It sounds a little cheesy, but the way the guy describes the girl is pretty much it. She will probably seem a little insecure talking to you, probably looking at the ground like she doesn't think she's pretty enough to even look at you."

Alex thought about this for a second. "So, what should I do?"

Petunia seemed prepared for this question. "Make her feel like she is beautiful enough for you and that she can trust you."

Alex thanked her then ran off to enjoy the park with Ellie. As soon as Larry and Petunia could no longer see them, Alex stopped Ellie. "Okay, I did what you asked. Now, what was that supposed to accomplish?" He didn't get an answer because Ellie was watching the cucumber and rhubarb they had just left.

"Wow that was some good advice for Alex." Larry said to Petunia.

Petunia looked downward. "Oh, it was nothing."

Larry smiled. "No, it wasn't nothing. I remember being that age and not having any clue. That meant a lot to him."

Petunia seemed to accept that it was a big deal to Alex, but she still wouldn't look Larry in the eyes. Larry noticed, and thought about the advice Petunia had just given Alex. She was refusing to look at him. Did that really mean she liked him? Not sure of what to do, he invited her to ride the roller coaster with him. She agreed and they went on the ride. Ellie and Alex followed, trying to act inconspicuous.

During the ride, if Petunia seemed to get even a little scared, she would lean into Larry. He didn't say anything. Petunia didn't even notice until the ride was over and she was still leaning on Larry's shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." As they got out of the ride, Petunia seemed to try even harder not to look at Larry.

Larry watched her walk ahead of him. Before she was too far gone, he said, "It's okay. You can trust me." Larry didn't even realize what he said until it was out.

Petunia turned around and looked him straight in the eye. She went back over to him. She gave a small nod, and then asked, "Do you want to ride the Ferris wheel?"

A couple of yards away, Ellie and Alex watched the whole thing. Alex looked at his little sister. "Way better than your last plan."

Ellie rolled her eyes and looked at her brother. "And we didn't even see any gum."


	12. A Crush Among the Kids

**Okay, so far everything has been mostly either Ellie or Annie's point of view. That changes here. They will not even be in this chapter. Just saying that to start out.**

Junior looked around the hall corner to make sure no one was there to watch. When he was sure that no one was there, he crept out. He placed a chocolate bar outside the door. Junior started to creep away, when he ran into Alex. "So, what's the chocolate bar for?"

"But… but… but." As Junior tried to come up with an answer, Alex bent down and picked up the chocolate bar. "No! Don't do that!"

"Relax Junior. OOoo! One of the old fashioned ones you get at Cracker Barrel. Nice!" Alex turned the chocolate bar over inspecting it.

"Yeah, well. If you don't mind, I'll just take that back."

"Wait! A note taped to the back?" Junior's eyes got huge as he tried to take the chocolate bar. "'Please take this chocolate bar, which is sweet like you. From: A Secret Admirer To: Annie.' Wait, Annie?" Junior finally grabbed the chocolate bar. "You have a crush on Annie?"

Junior raised his voice a little. "Yeah, so what if I do?"

Alex laughed. "Hey! Don't get so defensive. I was just wondering. Besides, I've been told I give pretty good advice about this type of thing if you needed help."

Junior sighed. "I don't know what to do. I feel like we're both kids so we shouldn't feel this way, but when she's around I feel the same things the characters in almost every cheesy romantic movie I've seen feel."

"That, my young friend, is a sign of a first crush." Junior gave Alex a wierd look. "Simply, you don't know what a crush will feel like, so you get your ideas from movies."

Junior smiled. "It may sound a little strange, but I think part of it is wierd because every time there's even been joking about that, Laura and I have been mentioned."

Alex couldn't help but laugh. "That's because that's all people know." After a few seconds he asked, "How long has this been going on?"

Junior thought for a little bit. "Probably in the Bully Trouble short when Annie asked if she could be one of the ones to try to get me out of the tree house. The way she asked Bob, it was like that's what she would do if something like that actually happened."

"That is a sure sign that she liked you first."

Junior's face brightened, and then suddenly got very mature and serious for an eight-year-old. "You can't say anything, and you can't do anything to meddle. I'm nervous enough as it is. If anyone else knew, I might lose it!"

"Hey, don't worry little dude! I'll be here for advice, but other than that it will be as if I didn't know." With a nod, Junior replaced the chocolate bar and left. Alex ducked behind a corner and watched Annie find the chocolate bar and look around for the mysterious admirer. _After this, how can I just let Junior go through this on his own? He needs a little help._


End file.
